#IndyRef: this weeks vote for Scottish independence

In 3 days time the people of Scotland will be voting in a referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country. A year ago most people and the polls said the YES side (those wanting full independence) had not a hope, but a week ago the YES group went ahead in the polls for the first time. Now it seems as if it is going to be a very close call, on friday morning we will know what is Scotland’s destiny..

Im hoping Scotland will vote YES and with that, break away from the Union of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This democratically elected act would act as a catalyst to further political change in the “British Isles”… Perhaps soon we might see the statelet of “Northern Ireland” also leaving the UK and joining its southern chunk of landmass, the “Republic of Ireland” to form a United Ireland. Also, If Scotland votes yes, it prompts very interesting questions for Spain, will it lead to Catalunya and the Basque country leaving the Spanish union? To Britains democratic credit, at least they are allowing the Scots to make up their own minds on the matter, back in Spain there is no such openess with Madrid still forbiding the Catalans to carry out a similar referendum on the 9th of November. Interesting times in Europe.

A week ago (Saturday 6th September) the YES side edged ahead in the polls for the first time, following its continued rise… in the excellent documentary “Scotland Yet: a film about independence” one can see why this is the case… On the YES side an amazing culture is growing, including art, dialogue, dreaming and vision… it has opened up a collective dialogue about what sort of country the people really wish to live in. It seems to have been a spark, far more than what has been portrayed by the other side… It seems more people are swinging to YES, they have hope and have dropped fear, they are PARTICIPATING in the collective process… This is what democracy should be about, an open invitation for all to share in the processs of making the world they wish to live in… Great to see.

More and more of the radical / progressive groups from England, Ireland, Wales and further afield are also supporting YES, in the hope that if and when it happens, that the spirit of HOPE bursts beyond Scotland, that the passion takes hold in more communities, where normal people start to take control of their own lives and destiny… That they start to engage in the creative process of making spaces and systems that allows their dreams to shape the reality..

This is a very special time, perhaps even the end of a very dark chapter in British and European history, that of moving from the politics of fear and apathy to one of passion, creativity and hope….

Scottish independence can galvanise progressive movements across the rest of the UK.

Already, the myth of political apathy has been scotched by the tumultuous movement north of the border. As soon as something is worth voting for, people will queue into the night to add their names to the register.

If Scotland becomes independent, it will be despite the efforts of almost the entire UK establishment. It will be because social media has defeated the corporate media. It will be a victory for citizens over the Westminster machine, for shoes over helicopters.

It would understand that hope is the most dangerous of all political reagents. It can transform what appears to be a fixed polity, a fixed outcome, into something entirely different. It can summon up passion and purpose we never knew we possessed. If Scotland becomes independent, England – if only the potential were recognised – could also be transformed.

Something incredible is happening in Scotland. The little pin badges – Yes or No – that people wear are sparking open conversation: in the pub, the swimming baths, the post office queue. An entire country of 5 million people is asking itself, sometimes quite vociferously, what it wants to be.

Independence has become a narrative of the people against big government; about an energised Scottish street, bar and nightclub versus the sleazy elite of official politics.

Whatever the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum on 18 September one thing is certain: the campaign waged by Yes has electrified large swathes of public opinion and reinvigorated democratic debate.

Night after night, in public halls and housing schemes, communities and trade unions, debate has been joined in an open and democratic spirit of enquiry, charged with optimism that an alternative Scotland is possible. Even on rainy nights it has been common to find audiences of 50 to 200 turning up.

For those on the left seeking a sustainable, socially just Scotland, this mass movement – certainly the biggest since the poll tax protests and arguably broader, deeper and more numerous – is a development of the utmost significance.

RADIO:

Irish and Scots talked about the issues on Joe Duffy during the week: The forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence was the subject of the calls to Liveline today . Irish people living in Scotland and Scots living in Ireland gave their views.

VIDEOS:

…A feature length documentary that takes a radically different approach to the debate on Scottish independence.

Blissfully free of sound bites, politicians and statistics, Scotland Yet examines the sum of several personal stories from across the nation to explore the many reasons why we find ourselves at such an historic impasse.

Whether you’re for or against an independent Scotland, or maybe you’re not entirely convinced either way, this film makes the positive case for Scottish independence in a light-hearted, self-effacing fashion.

Forget the historic grudges, the ancient battles and the unjustly romanticized idols, Scottish independence isn’t about “us and them”, it isn’t about anti-Englishness, it isn’t about ownership, it isn’t even about the SNP!

In Scotland, an era when people, lazy and acquiescent, were happy to have their politics handed down to them pre-packaged in manageable chunks is coming to a close. How long will it be until England’s great and neglected northern regions too awaken from their slumbers?

UK elections today, votes just starting to come in and all the talk is about todays polls… HUGE gains for SNP in Scotland, latest poll is saying they will win 58 of 59 seats.. lets see. SNP on course to become the third largest party at Westminster…

Could we also be seeing a centre-left alliance build into a British / UK wide anti austerity alliance, like something we are seeing with Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain.. Who knows, there seems to be a whirlwind gaining force, starting up in Scotland, beginning to inspire similar re-engagement with political activism…

Many radio commentators have already said “No matter happens, this is the start of the end of the union..” What might that mean for the island of Ireland?

Yet this painting – sorry, photograph – has other echoes that are even more suggestive. Sturgeon approaches Ed not alone but as one of a triumvirate of leftwing women (to ignore the gender of that Latin word for a political union of three leaders). They move towards him together, and the picture captures a rhythmic, dynamic strength reminiscent of one of the most radical of all European paintings.

They are interleaved like the ancient Romans who swear to the common cause in David’s painting The Oath of the Horatii. David took this way of showing three figures in a layered congregation from ancient Greek art: it is a very classical moment. But it is revolutionary, too. The Oath of the Horatii, painted in the 1780s, expresses the idealism and intensity that led to the French Revolution. Is Britain, too, on the brink of its own kind of revolution?